MINI DOCUMENTARY: The truth behind Sarawak deforestation

If you listen to the anti palm-oil lobby or the pro-rapeseed and pro-sunflower seed oil lobby, which are basically set up to promote their vegetable oil and rubbish the competition, you woudl think that Sarawak is now a wasteland.

These foreign propagandist would have the world believe that the Sarawak State Government had chopped down 90 per cent of the tropical rain forest in this lush Borneo state.

LIE: 90% of Sarawak forest have been chopped down

Foreign funded website and pressure groups like Sarawak Report pander to these foreign propaganda for the few dollars that foreign governments and lobbyists throw at them. They are so happy to receive foreign scraps that they are willing to sell their own state for it.

The fact is, the Sarawak Government began takign measures to control logging from the 1980s when they began carrying out studies and formulating plans how to ensure that the timber industry remains sustainable.

The Sarawak Government understands better than anyone else that the forest is valuable because the state is run by locals who lived with the forest and accept it as part of their lives.

In fact the state had called on the International Tropical Timber Organisation and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation to audit their forest and give suggestions how to improve any possible weaknesses.

Sarawak Chief Minister, Pehin Seri Abdul Taib Mahmud explains here why they take care of the state's most valuable resource.

He is proud that the state is a strong follow of the Rio Summit on sustainability.
Video courtesy of The Real Sarawak

FACT: 80% of Sarawak is still covered by Tropical Rain Forest

Here the Sarawak State Forestry Department Director, Datuk Len Talif Salleh explains that the figure of 80 per cent forest cover is not something that the state government cooked up but based on the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation classification.

FACT: Sarawak is still in the top three band in terms of biodiversity

The hot and humid climate allows the forest to recover quickly and this means that biodiversity in Sarawak remains very good because the state practices good logging practices.

Of course there are cases of timber companies not following the rules but then again where in the world do you find a state where no rules or laws are broken